The compound 4-phenyldibenzo[b,d]thiophene is in demand for use as a host component in Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). The compound has heretofore been synthesized according to a process which involves the metallation of dibenzo[b,d]thiophene with n-butyllithium. The resulting 4-lithiodibenzo[b,d]thiophene is reacted with trimethylborate, followed by hydrolysis with acid to give 4-dibenzo[b,d]thiophene boronic acid. The boronic acid is then reacted with bromobenzene under palladium catalyzed Suzuki conditions to give 4-phenyldibenzo[b,d]thiophene. The foregoing synthetic strategy is not conveniently a “one pot” synthetic scheme: it is generally prepared in several separate steps, with product transfers and purifications associated with each step, each of which significantly decreases yield. Furthermore, the synthesis uses dibenzo[b,d]thiophene as a precursor. Dibenzo[b,d]thiophene is expensive because it is a multi-ring heterocycle, which costs more to synthesize than other, less structurally complex starting materials. Syntheses used here-to-fore are thus economically inefficient in that they are relatively low-yielding with respect to dibenzo[b,d]thiophene, an expensive reactant used in the first synthetic step.